Save Me
by Sarroush
Summary: *Sequel to What is Love?* The Grand Magic Games are over and Erza Knightwalker is still nowhere to be seen. As Lucy begins to lose hope of ever seeing her lover again, a hooded figure stands in front of her. Only two words are heard as the stranger attacks the mage, "Save me." Will eventually be rated M. KnightwalkerxLucy
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Well, it's finally here! I first published "What is Love" in September 2012, so I guess it's been roughly two years. I kept swirling my head with ideas, trying to figure out where in the timeline the sequel should be and with the start of the Tartarus arc, I finally figure it out. I know I haven't finished rewriting "What is Love", but it'll come in due time. I'm a bit preoccupied with my League of Legends fic at the moment, but that is slowly nearing completion, and after that I will more than likely be fully dedicated to the remaining Fairy Tail fics, as well as this new one.

Please note that this is a sequel to "What is Love". Technically, you could read it without reading the prequel, but the scenario and situations presented might seem a bit odd.

In any event, I know you waited and waited. Here's the Prologue. It might be a bit rusty. I really wanted to publish it though, so if in a few days, I believe it needs rewriting, I'll do just that!

P.S It's unnerving, but sometimes the line break isn't working. I'll use xoxoxoxoxoxo in its place.

Enjoy!

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><p>Prologue<p>

X785 - One year after the Tenroujima incident

She let out a long sigh and opened her eyes. The rays of the sun burned enough to make her squint. Pulling her arm over her face, she tried her best to shield natural attack. It was the perfect excuse to let out silent tears. It had been a very painful year. Hiding her sadness was something she'd thought she wouldn't be able to do, but watching the young boy, Romeo, how his heart had shattered when they never came back, she'd decided to stay strong for him. She tilted her head a bit when she heard footsteps rustling over the grass.

"So this is where you've been hiding lately," the man let out a bit gruffly.

"Hiding? Hiding...Out in the open? I guess that's a strategy in and of itself," she responded as she took a sitting position on the grass and looked to him. Lately, her mind had wandered to the possibilities of war. It was strange, but war. War was something she knew. It was something she could cope with. Losing her lover? Not so much. When the Tenroujima group hadn't returned, when news of the island's disappearance had come to them, she was very close to joining the army. She was never one to know how to cope with heartbreak, and she knew full well that she'd have to experience it if she stayed around Fairy Tail.

"Maybe you should spend some more time at the guild. Whenever they see you, they all calm down."

"Of course they would. I look identical to one of their greatest mages. Why wouldn't they?"

Clutching at the grass swaying in the wind, she ripped it out, "I can't do this anymore, Macao."

"What do you mean?"

"It's been a year. It's been a year since the island vanished, since they vanished into thin air. I can't pretend it didn't happen," she dusted her hands off and got up, her spear resting on her shoulder.

"No one is telling you to forget. We haven't. We tried looking Erza. You know that, I know that. There's only so much we can do," he tried to explain. He knew Erza's motivations to find the Tenroujima group were probably much stronger than his. She relied on Lucy so much but he had to make her understand that at this point, all they could do was hope for their return.

"I'm not going to sit back and wait. That isn't who I am," she gritted her teeth in frustration. Before Lucy had gone to participate in the S-Class quest, her and Erza had made a considerable amount of progress as a couple, and though Erza thought her feelings had reached their peak, they certainly hadn't. They kept going higher and higher to the point where she'd concluded that she could not live without Lucy.

"Then what are you planning on doing?"

"Forgive me. You accepted my offer even though you shouldn't have had proper reason to trust me, and as a result, you accepted me into your guild," she closed her eyes, holding onto her right arm, as she slightly traced the pink symbol of fairies. It wouldn't have been her preferable color of choice, however it was the same color as Lucy's symbol. "But I need to find her. No matter what, I need to find them. They made me the person I am today. Macao, I wouldn't be standing here right now if it weren't for Lucy and Erza, and more than likely most of the others too. Mira helped me out a lot and accepted me so easily. Levy. Well, my relationship with Levy became a bit odd, but she was always willing to help when it came to Lucy. Natsu and Gray...Both of those troublemakers accepted me into their arms, as their partner, their friend, so easily. They all helped me so much. This is the least I can do to repay them. I need to find out what happened."

"Erza, we don't even know if they're still alive," he tried saying it kindly, but that wasn't something that could come out sounding as such. It was the reality. None of them knew what had happened. The most likely scenario was that they were all dead. The issue at hand was that Erza had offered Macao help in maintaining the guild by doing quests and bringing in money in exchange for becoming a member of Fairy Tail. Now, she was asking him to let her leave on a more than likely impossible journey.

"Then I guess I have to find out, don't I?"

"You'll leave whether or not I allow it won't you?" he sighed knowingly.

She simply nodded.

"You'll remain a member of the guild," he noticed this caught her by surprise as her eyes widened. "You've been with us for a year. We've been through a lot together. Do you honestly think I'm going to kick you out now? Erza, you're family."

Closing her eyes and lowering her head, she smiled, "Thank you, Macao." Turning around, she grabbed her small duffle bag and her spear and walked away, but not before letting out, "Take care of Romeo for me."

Macao shook his head, "You're leaving now?! Aaah, you were going to leave whether or not we had this talk weren't you?" He whispered to himself with a small grin.

**xoxoxoxoxoxo**

"Hey lady, you sure this is the place? There's literally nothing here!" The sailor grunted, looking at the vast expanse of sea around them.

It was true. All she saw for miles on end was water. This was where Tenroujima was supposed to be, and yet, it was as though it had never existed. Why? Where had it gone? It couldn't have just vanished!

"Look lady, I ain't going to stay here and wait for the storm to pick up! We're leav-" He was grabbed by his collar and met with a death glare.

"We're not leaving until I say so."

The old man swallowed and nodded. What had he gotten himself caught up in?! There was a storm brewing and if this woman valued her life, they needed to get out, soon.

_'There has to be something here_.' Scanning the water seemed pointless, but she had a feeling. A feeling she hoped wouldn't betray her. _'Lucy, I know you. I know you left something for me to find. Please. Please give me a clue.'_

It was ridiculous. Truly it was. It had been four months since she'd left Fairy Tail to track down Lucy and her friends. She wouldn't admit it to the sailor of course, but she'd been to these waters at least once every week with a different sailor. She knew something was there. She knew it! She just had to find it. Was she losing her mind? It was a probability. But Lucy wouldn't just vanish without leaving a clue. Of that, she was positive.

"You never give up, do you?"

As if being knocked from her place, she roughly turned around and snarled, "What did you just say?!"

The sailor raised his hands and shook his head, "I didn't say anything!" He wasn't lying, she knew this. The voice was that of a woman, or girl to be more precise.

Turning back to look at the sea, her eyes widened in disbelief. "Who the hell are you?"

"Lady, you okay? You're talking to yours-"

"Shut your mouth, fool."

"Huh. Are you really a mage of Fairy Tail?" The little girl wondered, looking at her with an innocent face.

Erza gritted her teeth. Macao had accepted her, but he wasn't really master. He was simply a replacement. Unless Makarov accepted her, she felt she wouldn't really be part of Fairy Tail. So this little girl's question hit a bit too close to home, which angered her further.

"Calm yourself child. My question was not meant to cause you distress. I just find it odd that such a rude girl would be part of the guild."

"Child? Child?! Look at yourself! You're younger than I am!"

That simply caused the blonde haired girl to laugh. "Why won't you give up your search?"

Her eyes as cold as steel, she let out ,"I'm trying to find someone."

"Yes, I know that much. But what does this person mean to you?"

"She's my lover."

"And is she a mage of Fairy Tail?"

"Yes."

The scarlet haired woman became confused when the girl floating atop the water smiled.

"Erza Knightwalker?"

"Wha...How?"

"There is in fact something here for you. I'd suggest looking under the water."

Grabbing the rails of the boat, she yelled out, "What are you talking about?! What is it I'm supposed to find?!" She was in absolutely no mood for games. If this little angelic girl was lying to her, hell would be had. But there was something about it that was familiar. Something that told her that she could trust the playful girl no matter how much she drove her mad.

"You'll know."

Knightwalker was able to let out one last question before the girl disappeared, "Who are you?!"

The sound of the wind carried her answer for her, "You'll find out in six years."

Riddles. Always with the riddles. Erza was sick and tired of them. Over the years as Captain, she'd learned to take a more hands on approach in getting what she wanted, and that's what she was about to do.

"Old man, I'm going in."

"Are you crazy?! Do you know how cold these waters are?! We're leav- HEY! WAIT!"

Without any warning, she grabbed her spear, took in a deep breath and dove into the freezing cold water. She knew full well she couldn't stay in there long. Probably not even a minute. But whatever that unnerving girl was talking about, something was for certain. She wasn't lying. There was something in the fish infested waters. A clue. Any clue would do! She needed to know! She needed to know that Lucy was alive.

And that's when she saw it. A glow. It wasn't big or too bright, but strong enough to notice in the dark waters. Swimming as fast as she could, she reached it in time. Grabbing it, she couldn't believe what it was. The necklace she'd given Lucy in Edolas. The silver chain with the red glass drop...That was proof that Lucy was in fact around these waters when she disappeared. But what did this mean exactly?

Before she could consider it more though, she had to leave the waters or quite possibly die in them. But it was too late. The storm had escalated enough that a whirlpool had begun. And unfortunately for Erza Knightwalker, it had its eyes on her. She tried her best to swim away from it. The likelihood of surviving through that would be near impossible in these waters. She was lucky that it seemed as though the whirlpool wasn't growing. She might manage to escape before she died of hypothermia. But when have things ever worked out well for Erza Knightwalker? Realistically? Almost never. Just as she thought she was home free, her leg was grabbed and she was pulled away from any thoughts of freedom. As the electric current went through her body, all that crossed her mind was that she would never be able to see Lucy again.

* * *

><p>She coughed out water. That's all she could do. Her lower body was paralyzed. She couldn't feel her legs at all and she was going in and out of her consciousness. Was she dying? It was a clear possibility.<p>

Vaguely, very vaguely, she heard someone, something, approaching through the distance. And they didn't seem all that safe to be around.

"You poor thing," the man muttered. "You're dying. And I can't heal you. All I do is cause the death of the things around me. But maybe I can end up freeing you of your suffering."

Was he trying to send her to an early grave?! As he trotted closer to her, ever so slowly, his eyes quickly caught her tattoo. "Fairy Tail? Are you the red haired woman from that time? From the island?"

Erza cursed mentally. She waited and waited and waited, until finally the lacrima in her body kicked in, healing her enough that she was able to quickly stand up. She was a bit disoriented as a result.

"You survived? All of you made it out from the attack safely? Even Natsu-san?!"

What was this man talking about? What attack? Did he know what had happened to Lucy?

"I was very disheartened. I thought Acnologia had destroyed everyone, all because I was on the island."

Her body was trying to reorient itself so she wasn't completely there, but she did take note of what he said. Because he was on the island. Which meant that Lucy's disappearance was linked to this man.

"Who are you?" She let out, a clear demand for answers in her voice, as she pointed her spear to the man clad in black. Though she felt physically exhausted, she still had her captain persona, and she intended to use it. Even if in another world, Erza Knightwalker was still a royal captain damn it!

"I would appreciate it if you did not point your weapon at me. I understand you're frightened, however making me angry is not the way to go about," he turned around and in a few footsteps, vanished into the forest behind them. He had no intention of staying around such a rude and potentially violent individual. Humans never learned that violence was never the answer.

She needed answers. He had answers. Biting the inside of her cheek to try and ease off the pain in her legs, she sprinted forward, trying to catch him. However, her body was still relatively weakened, as such, he was able to dodge her with simple ease, causing her to stumble to the earthy ground.

"You're making me angry, child," his voice had a poison to it. She lifted her head to look at him, only to notice that the trees around them had all withered. What had happened? What had the power to cause such a thing? She felt the answer was standing in front of her.

"I could have killed you when you were in pain, I chose not to," a simple response, however, his eyes were glazed with a terrifying look.

"Where is Lucy?" She stood up and returned his look. Two could play his game. She'd force him to speak up, no matter what.

"You're not from the island, are you? Who are you?!" His voice sent tremors through the earth, knocking her back a bit.

"Who I am is of no importance. I asked you a question, and I expect an answer," she growled. She had no idea who this kid was, but just because he had some fancy magic didn't mean she was going to stand down. She'd handled mages most of her life. This would be a piece of cake. She knew she was being stubborn, but she had something of a lead, and she was going to pursue it no matter what.

"Arrogant child. You have no idea who you're dealing with," the man growled in return. "I am beginning to think that you are an Apple of Discord here." As he finished his sentence, a cloud of dark smoke began enveloping him.

Erza readied her spear to counter him, however his inexplicable black smoke was much faster than her. She was too late. As the miasma in the smoke entered her body, all she could feel was her life, her essence, being drained away.

She had no idea what had just happened. But she knew one thing for certain. This man was killing her, if she wasn't already dead. Her body landed limply on the ground with a thud. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be dying. What about Lucy? Wasn't she supposed to find out what happened? Get her back? So why? Why was she on the ground, painfully letting out her last breaths?

She failed. Failed in unimaginable ways. She apparently couldn't even last more than a year without Lucy. What if she hadn't been a stubborn fool? What if she had stayed with Macao and the rest of the guild? She wouldn't have been dying at the hands of a random yet not random at all man.

As she slowly began to close her eyes, having no choice but to accept her situation, she heard someone bend down in front of her. She had no idea how much time had passed. It felt like mere instances, but the man's presence had vanished, replaced with another, new presence.

"This is his power...Was he here?" the sultry voice of a woman. She lifted Erza's chin up with a single finger, having their eyes come in contact. "If this was his doing, why are you still alive?" The woman made a clear inspection of Erza's body, noting her scarlet hair's slow bleach to white. But what caught her eyes were the small glitters at certain locations in the younger woman's body. "Lacrima," she nodded to herself.

"L...Lucy," Erza managed to let out, looking at the strange woman in her deathly ill state.

"Lucy?" She noted the symbol on the knight's arm. "Ah. Fairy Tail. You mean Lucy Heartfilia who was on Tenroujima when it was attacked by Acnologia?"

The woman let out a cruel grin when Erza tried her best to imitate a nod. "She's dead. They're all dead."

With no energy left in her, as her hair completed its transformation to a snowy white, she closed her eyes, welcoming the darkness she deemed death. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd encountered it, but she hoped it would be the last. Lucy was dead. Erza had no reason to live anymore.

"Kyouka-sama? Did you find anything?" The black haired girl let out through the withered trees as she made her way to the woman standing in front of Erza.

"I didn't find Zeref-sama, no. However, Sayla. He was definitely here," she responded as she grabbed Erza, carrying her on her shoulder. "And he unknowingly left us a little present too."

"Who is she?"

"Someone who was able to survive Death Magic."

Making their way out of the forest, Kyouka smiled. Surviving Death Magic was no easy feat, yet this girl had done it. But when she had heard that the Fairy Tail members from Tenroujima were dead, she'd given up any ounce of will she'd had to survive. Kyouka had lied of course. She had no idea what had happened to the island, and didn't much care. But the woman on her shoulder had tenacity and vigour, even though she'd lost her hope. She noticed how the light in her eyes went out when she heard that her friends were dead. But there was something strange with her body. Though she was on the brink of death, it wouldn't let her die. It could have been the lacrima, but Kyouka felt there was something more to this.

"Sayla," she let out.

"Yes, Kyouka-sama?"

"We might just have a new demon in our ranks."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Alright, that's the end of the Prologue. The next chapters will be taking place after the Grand Magic Games. The story in general will be taking place between GMG and Sun Village arcs. I hope you stay tuned for Chapter 1! R&R is appreciated.


	2. A Heartbroken Maiden

**A/N: **Hey guys! Thanks for deciding to keep up with the sequel! I'm glad the shipping of Knightwalker/Lucy isn't dead yet! (And hopefully it never has to be!)

Here's chapter 2. It's a bit shorter than the prologue, however I didn't want it to feel too dragged out. I hope you enjoy!

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><p>X791 - Two days after the Great Banquet<p>

They'd finally made it back home. After all the hardships and pain, they managed through it all in one piece. It was time to let go and relax. So that's what everyone did. They drank, they sung, they danced, they bickered. Everything was well once again and they wanted to make the most of it. Who could really blame them?

However, a certain blonde mage was unable to crack even a single smile throughout the guild's ruckus. She'd taken a table at the corner and though everyone knew what was going on in her mind, they didn't dare approach her as they had no idea how to help her with her problem no matter how much they wanted to. They all felt a tad useless. Lucy was family and they couldn't figure out how to help her. One mage however decided that her friend needed comforting. Walking over to the younger girl, Erza Scarlet sat down next to her at the table.

"Lucy, what's going on?" She inquired gently. She had a gut feeling it had something to do with Knightwalker, but she just wanted to be certain of it.

The blonde merely stared at the wooden table, not wanting to vocalize. She knew that if she started speaking, she would more than likely end up crying. That would ruin everyone's mood and given everything they had been through only a few days ago, she didn't want that. Understanding her friend's reservation, Erza draped an arm over her shoulder and brought her to rest on her chest. Lucy let out a quiet smile at this, having remembered Erza's common habit of wanting people to be smothered by her chest out of love.

To Lucy, it had only been a little while since she'd last seen Knightwalker. But in reality, seven years had passed. Seven years since their final goodbye. Seven years since her promise to come back as soon as possible. Erza had been planning to cook for her the day she would've come back. It would have been a first. The scarlet haired woman had dedicated long hours of her time to practicing cooking. It had been an adorable gesture, one Lucy was proud of. She had gone through the accidentally burnt pasta, the partially raw chicken, the exploding pork. When Erza had felt that she was nearing cooking perfect however, she'd stopped Lucy from taste testing. She'd decided that it would happen when Lucy came back from the S-Class test. But Lucy never got the chance to taste her lover's cooking. All because of Acnologia. It seemed as though lately, he was constantly the cause of their troubles and she was beginning to get sick of it.

"You smell like her," the blonde let out quietly into Erza's chest. The latter simply looked down at the resting girl. She had a feeling the celestial mage wasn't done speaking.

"I thought I'd see her during the Grand Magic Games. But, she wasn't there was she?" She brought her head up, looking at her friend with wide eyes as though sudden realization had hit her, "Erza! What if..W-what if she was in Crocus during the tournament? What if something happened to her! What if she...What if she's..." Lucy couldn't finish her sentence.

Erza remained silent for quite some time. If what Lucy had just implied was garbage, then she would have said so. However, it was a clear possibility. She didn't want to vocalize it. She didn't want to tell Lucy that there was a chance that Erza Knightwalker was in fact dead. She was supposed to be her friend. She was supposed to give her hope, have her believe. But even she had lost hope during the dragon attack. Who was she to lie to her friend?

"I think Macao might know a bit more about what went on when we weren't here," Erza finally spoke as she noticed the man walking their way.

Erza Knightwalker had been on Lucy's mind since the moment her time was unfrozen. But there was so much happening at the same time, that she wasn't able to ask many questions about the woman's whereabouts. She'd visited Erza's little house however it felt as though it had been abandoned for quite some time. She couldn't find a single hint of her whereabouts and had no idea where to even start looking. So Scarlet might have had a point. Maybe she should've asked Macao to begin with.

"Lucy," the older man nodded as she fixed herself to look at him. "A lot's happened these last few days, and you guys went missing for three months right after you got back from Tenroujima, so we didn't really have a chance to talk."

She wiped her eyes a bit, not wanting to start crying.

"About Erza..."

When she looked at him sternly, he noticed that he had her full attention. Every word he was about to say would be engraved into her. "A month after you guys went missing, she came to me and asked to join the guild." This had Erza's eyes widen while Lucy simply smiled. Her lover had kept her promise and had made a decision. "I accepted her. She said she wanted to return the favor by doing jobs and helping the guild stand. She was clear in her intent. When you returned, she wanted you to come back to what you had left, and maybe something even better. We all know how that turned out though."

Lucy sighed. Macao continued.

"For quite some time, she opened herself up and befriended Romeo. She said that he reminded her of herself when she was just a young child. She was very protective of him, that much was certain. However, a year after your disappearance, she decided to leave."

"What do you mean by leave?" Erza inquired.

"She wanted to go look for you guys. She said that she'd understand it if I didn't want her to be a member of the guild anymore, but I made it clear that she was family. That she'd always be part of Fairy Tail. Though after she left, I didn't hear a single word from her. This was six years ago."

Looking at Lucy, he knew this wasn't what she wanted to hear. But he had nothing more to give her. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head, trying to stop her tears. "It's alright. Thank you." Even if there wasn't any hints in what he said of her whereabouts, the fact that Erza had become a Fairy Tail mage put Lucy slightly at ease. She hadn't wanted to vocalize how much she was against Erza joining the army but she was grateful she didn't have to. Fairy Tail was her family the moment she set foot on Earthland, and Lucy only hoped her lover realized it.

"Oi, Lucy! Why you cryin'?!" The voice of a troublemaker was heard behind her as he draped his arm around her shoulder.

"Natsu?"

Grinning like a fool, he pointed to his nose, "What are we waiting for? Let's go sniff out the scary knight lady!" Dragon slayers had a keen sense of smell. Natsu in fact could have been able to locate Erza! It was a chance Lucy was willing to take. Nodding to him, she got up. She wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of it before. They'd go to Erza's hut and find a clue. Any clue! It was her duty as Erza Knightwalker's lover to find out what happened to her.

* * *

><p>A single second was all it took for Natsu to break Lucy's heart. There wasn't a single human scent in the place. All that he could smell was nature. The trees, the water, the animals and...something else. Something not quite human and not quite animal. He couldn't even get a single whiff of Erza's scent. He concluded that she hadn't been here in quite some time. But someone else certainly had, given Lucy's expression.<p>

"Lucy? Did you find something?"

She turned towards him holding her necklace. "I...I thought I'd lost this. Erza had given it to me back in Edolas as a birthday present," she responded, clutching it tightly to her chest. "But it wasn't here when I came to find her last time..."

"That's strange. Do you think she came back and left it here?"

"But why would she do that?" Happy tilted his head in confusion.

"Iunno, maybe it's some weird message only Lucy can understand," the fire mage shrugged.

Before Lucy could say anything, Natsu's face contorted strangely. "Natsu?"

"Shh."

"Eh?"

"We're being watched." The scent was the same one that was vaguely present in the room, and they had clear killer intent. "They don't seem too friendly. Lucy, I'll distract them, you and Happy head back to the guild, got it?"

"Natsu, wh-"

"No questions!" His eyes flared up. He was serious and he was pissed. The killer intent wasn't directed towards him, but towards Lucy. Whoever this person was, they wanted her dead, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let that happen. Not after his promise to Knightwalker.

* * *

><p><em>"Natsu, please wait," the knight called out to him before he got on the ship. Turning around he walked towards her.<em>

_"What's up? You wanna tag along in the end? You know, you're going to need a mark for that right?" He grinned, aware that Erza would catch on. He couldn't help it. He really wanted her in Fairy Tail._

_She shook her head. "No. But, I know this is a sort of competition in your guild. And you're going to be teamed up with Happy while Lucy's going to be with Cana, but..."_

_She wasn't sure how to ask without seeming like a worrywart or weakling unable to take care of her own lover. However, thankfully for her, though Natsu could be stupid at times, he caught on. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he smiled his bright smile._

_"Don't worry. I'll protect her, I promise. And hey, we'll be back in no time. So be patient, alright?"_

_She was going to mellow out and might have considered hugging him if it weren't for the fact that he pat her head as he said that. He was rewarded with a death glare and a punch to the face, causing him to fly onto the ship as she let out a large huff and puff._

* * *

><p>"I made a promise Lucy. I'm not about to go back on it now. Go back to the guild." It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. On any other occasion, she'd have chastised him for thinking so lowly of her, but when she felt their enemy's killer intent, she knew they were in real trouble.<p>

"You better be careful, Natsu!" She exclaimed as Happy grabbed her and they exited the house through the window to fly back to the guild as quickly as possible.

Punching his fists together, he roared, "COME OUT YOU BASTARD!"

And so they did. It was a figure wearing a black hood, some of their long white hair flowing out. When they lifted their head up, all Natsu could do was stare. Those red eyes were so mesmerizingly terrifying, yet so so familiar.

"Y-you..." However, before he could utter anything else, the hooded person moved in the blink of an eye, connecting their palm to his chin, causing him to be thrown back, knocked unconscious.

**xoxoxoxoxo**

"Happy, faster!"

"Aye s-"

"HAPPY!"

They were almost at the guild. She could see its roof. Only a few seconds longer and they'd have reached it. However, just as she'd prompted him to fly faster, a large spear had made its way towards them, causing the exceed to drop Lucy from her height. Out of some ungodly miracle however, she survived her fall, surprisingly landing on some hay placed near the guild.

She let out the breath she was holding. She'd survived! As she was about to get up and dust herself however, the figure Natsu had spoken of stood in front of her.

"W-why are you here? Where is Natsu?!" She crawled away from the dangerous person as best she could. Strangely enough, said wizard didn't make any motion to move. That's when Lucy realized it. The weapon they were holding was all too familiar. Her eyes widened. What did this mean? She needed answer.

"Why?! Why do you have the Ten Commandments in your hand?! That doesn't belong to you!"

The hooded figure snickered, "How could you know it doesn't belong to me, if you don't even know who I am?"

If Lucy had even an ounce of feeling that this woman might have been Erza, she felt she was sorely mistaken. The voice wasn't the same. The way they carried themselves wasn't the same. This woman was not Erza Knightwalker! Of that...Of that...Was she so sure? The woman had white hair from what she could tell. But that was all. Would Lucy even be able to recognize Erza after 7 years? How much would she have changed?

"Then tell me, who are you? I can introduce myself too!" She needed to buy some time until Natsu got back. And she needed to figure out why this person had her lover's weapon with her.

"I have no reason to introduce myself to cattle. I'm simply here to get some work done. Honestly, failing my last mission didn't bode well with the mistress. She can be such a pain to please when she gives unrealistic jobs to complete. This however? Killing a celestial mage? I don't think it gets easier than this."

She took a single step closer. "But you know, if I fail this mission, the mistress will be incredibly angry. And I really don't feel like dealing with another round of her punishment sessions. So, you'll have to die and that will in turn," only two other words were heard as the stranger attacked the mage, "save me."

Her eyes closed shut as she held onto the necklace her lover had given her, "Erza!" She yelled out. It took all of one second. The hooded figure hesitated for a single second. That single second was enough for her to be pushed back by an explosion caused by the tip of what Lucy could only describe as the Explosion Spear.

Looking up at her saviour, the blonde wasn't sure how to feel. They were hooded as well, in black, however she noticed scarlet hair under the gown. As the spear in the new mage's hand reverted to its regular self, her enemy snarled in confusion.

"Why do you have that?! Answer me!"

"Because it's my weapon. A weapon given to me by my father."

Lucy put her hands over her mouth, her eyes incredibly wide. It was different. It was rougher, but she knew that voice. She knew it!

"You don't deserve to have it in your hands," the familiar voice let out with disgust.

"Lucy! Lucy!" It was Natsu. He'd finally woken up and was running towards them at maddening speed. "That woman!" He said pointing towards the one with white hair. "It's-" however, before he could finish, the scarlet haired figure looked to him through her hood with a glare. "...Er...za?"

His eyes widened as he fell to his knees in utter confusion. What the hell was going on?!

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><p><strong>AN:** That's the end of chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed and will stick around for more! R&R is greatly appreciated. Until next time!


	3. The Fears of a Great Warrior

**A/N**: I know you guys are confused! But all in due time . Here's chapter 3 (though technically chapter 2...grrr...Maybe I should've titled the prologue chapter 1 instead) oh well! Here is chapter 2! There. Have fun~

So, I finally noticed that the hr tags in the html (for line break) are broken. No idea why. Please fix this, FF. It's starting to piss me off. It's being fickle as all hell.

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><p>It had taken all but an instant. The spear pierced through her enemy's side as they let out a scream of agony. They jumped away, trying to recompose themselves, but the pain was too strong. Their waist had begun bleeding, as droplets of blood could be seen reddening the ground. The scarlet haired figure took the remaining steps she needed to stand in front of the now fallen white haired assailant.<p>

"Who the hell are you?" Seethed her enemy as they held onto their bleeding waist.

She knelt down, her lips nearly touching their ear, "That doesn't matter". She cupped their cheek through their hood, "I think it's time for you to run back to Kyouka."

Eyes wide and body shaking, they had no idea what was going on. Seeing the face through the hood, it made no sense. The woman cupping their cheek had a very familiar face. It was so familiar yet there was something wrong. It felt different. Who on earth was this person? How did they know about Kyouka?

"How?"

"Hmm?"

"How do you know about her?"

"I know a lot more than you think I do. And let's not pretend that you hate your mistress' punishments, because we both know you don't."

The hooded figure screamed as they tackled their opponent to the ground. The scarlet haired woman's hood fell off, revealing her face to her enemy.

"Give me answers," the demonic voice wavered.

"Why do you care? You don't even think for yourself. You don't even know who you are. Who I am. Who those people are," she replied, tilting her head towards the Fairy Tail members. "Tell me your name."

"My name is of no concern to y-" they were kicked back, staggering on their feet, as the woman got up and dusted herself.

"Kid, do us both a favor and go get yourself patched up. You won't be able to get your beloved Kyouka's work done if you're dead. And quite frankly? I need you alive."

Even if the white haired intruder wanted to fight back, they knew they couldn't. They were clearly bleeding and running out of time. They needed to get away. Growling in frustration, they looked towards Lucy once more, before leaping away. Whatever Kyouka wanted that girl dead for could wait. Hopefully two failures didn't mean execution, but with Kyouka? You never really knew. The woman was incredibly fickle.

"By the way," the scarlet haired woman yelled out, "don't piss off Sayla. She's quite the jealous type."

All that was heard was a scream of frustration and anger as the figure vanished into the horizon.

"Well then," she turned around, walking towards the blonde. "That takes care of that." Arriving at the feet of the girl on the ground, she lowered the hood that had returned to its position earlier.

"Hi there," she let out with a cheery smile that did not really compliment the scar on her face.

All Lucy could do was gawk at her. This woman standing in front of her, was it really Erza? Her Erza? Erza Knightwalker? The older woman gave the blonde her hand, willing her to get up. Lucy noticed scars were also present on her lover's arm as well. What the hell had happened to her? She hesitated.

"I know. We have a lot of catching up to do, so come on. I'll explain everything, alright? But let's get out of here first. I don't really want to see the guildies before we have a chance to talk."

Lucy took her hand. Before Natsu could stop them, Erza had used Silfarion to speed up and get away from the guild. Natsu couldn't have hoped to catch them in time. It was all strange. Erza didn't even look at him or Happy. It seemed as though she was trying to avoid them. And the dragon slayer knew full well that the smile Lucy had recieved had been a fake one.

"Natsu?! What was all that commotion?" Titania let out as she made her way out of the guild.

"Erza!"

He ran towards his comrade. "I have no idea what's going on. Erza's back. At least I think."

"You mean Knightwalker?" Scarlet raised her eyebrow. Natsu nodded in response. "Why do you think she's back? She either is or isn't."

"Yeah, but see that's the thing. I went to her hut with Lucy to figure out if I could sniff her or not and we were attacked by this hooded figure with white hair. I told Lucy to run away and she did, but before this person knocked me out, I saw their face."

Natsu wasn't even taking a single breath. He needed to get it out before Knightwalker magically heard what he was saying and killed him for it. "It was Erza. I'm completely positive it was Erza. I mean she had red eyes and white hair, but I know it was her!"

"Go on..." Scarlet folded her arms, trying to listen to Natsu speaking a bit too fast.

"Well, later, another hooded figure appeared. They had red hair but smelled like Erza! When I was about to tell Lucy that the white haired person was Erza, the red haired one glared at me and she looked like Erza! How can there be two Erza Knightwalkers?! Erza! What's going on?!"

He grabbed her shoulders and started nudging her vehemently. He was downright confused. Both looked like Erza to an extent, but only one of them smelled and sounded like her.

"Where are they now?"

"The white haired one ran away. She seemed pretty injured. The red haired one took Lucy and left! She used her freaking super speed spear! I can't catch up to that."

"Do you know where they went?"

He shook his head. Erza for one had no idea what was going on. Natsu's explanation was awful, jumbled and incredibly fast. All she was able to retain from it was that there were two Erza Knightwalkers out there and the one that smelled like her was with Lucy. Did that mean the blonde was safe? She hoped so, but decided to go over to her apartment and hope her friend was safe.

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><p>Lucy felt something was off. Who was the white haired woman? Was it even a woman to begin with? Why was she trying to kill her? How did Erza know her? How did Erza get her scars? Once they'd gotten home, Erza had asked Lucy to let her take a shower. The blonde had agreed, but something felt off. Erza hadn't seen her in 7 years right? So why wasn't she ecstatic? Why wasn't she crying or holding her or telling her how much she loved her? Sure Erza had always been the aloof type, but this wasn't an aloof Erza that she was being witness to. This Erza was smiling and making jokes. Lucy knew however that they were empty smiles and empty jokes. They either fell flat or just weren't there at all. Something wasn't right. Was this woman really her lover?<p>

She sighed as she let herself fall back on her bed. There were way too many questions. She hoped Erza could give her some answers. Looking to her side, she noticed the scarf. Seven years later, and she was still using a scarf. Lucy smiled a bit as she took it in her hands. It was a light reddish color and incredibly soft. She couldn't help but bring it up to her nose. Breathing in, the scent was so familiar. She knew it like the back of her hand. It smelled like Erza.

"Hey," the familiar but slightly rougher voice let out, causing Lucy to yelp in surprise and put the scarf back on the bed.

Tilting her head towards her supposed lover, she finally had the chance to take a good look at her. "Could you give me my clothes? They're next to you."

Lucy stood up, walked the two steps needed to be right in front of the woman and looked at her. Had seven years really taken such a toll on her lover? Erza was supposed to be twenty-six right? So why did she look older? She looked like she was at least 30. What had happened to her in the last seven years? She had clear bags under her eyes that made her seem more aged than she probably was. Looking into her eyes, Lucy knew something was missing. Her usual strength and passion weren't there. Those earlier smiles were fakes, that she could confirm. She cupped her lover's cheek, however her hand was slapped away by the woman gritting her teeth. It was the first sensual touch since she'd seen Erza again. So why?

"I'm sorry," Erza whispered, looking away. "It's just been so long since we spent time like this, being intimate." Lucy understood. It made sense. Seven years had passed. Erza had reverted to her secluded closed self, hadn't she? The one who wouldn't let anyone touch her, let alone hold her. But Lucy had hopes. She knew Erza loved her and she knew Erza would let her touch her once more.

"Please let me touch you," the blonde tried again, slowly cupping her cheek.

It was Erza. Her Erza. Her skin was a bit rough, there was a scar crossing her left eye diagonally stopping at the tip of her upper lip. Lucy felt as though she was an injured animal. Every time she moved to touch another part of the woman's face, Erza would twitch. She was uncomfortable. Lucy found it odd. Earlier, when Erza was fighting, she didn't show a single ounce of the behaviour she was showing now. There were people around...Happy, Natsu...Of course she wouldn't show what she was really feeling. Fear. Anxiety.

"Erza...Let me see your guildmark," Lucy would make Erza remember. Though she didn't want to show her fear in front of Natsu and Happy, she had no reason not to. They were all a family now. And if Natsu saw Erza scared or anxious, Lucy knew he'd do anything in his power to make it all go away.

The woman clad in the white towel, her hair dripping small droplets onto the floor, shook her head. "I can't show it to you." She pointed to the gauze bandage wrapped around her right arm. "I had a nasty burn recently and it's still healing up."

Lucy nodded in understanding, though a bit disappointed. She'd remind herself to ask Wendy for a little healing help.

"Please give me my clothes," the woman let out quietly. This Erza was so...different. Lucy didn't understand what could have happened in these seven years to change her so much. She grabbed Erza's hand and pulled her to the bed.

"Lie down," she prodded gently.

"Lucy, I just want my clothes."

"Erza, please lie down. Please let me see, let me feel what I missed in these last seven years."

No matter how much time had passed, Erza always had a hard time saying no to Lucy. But she was scared. She had so many new scars over the years that her body felt foreign even to herself. She didn't want Lucy to think that she'd become a monster. In fact, Erza had no intention of showing her body to the girl any time soon. Lucy insisted.

What would happen if the blonde was repulsed? The other Erza? She didn't have any frontal scars. She had the typical ones on her back, she had white hair and red eyes. But she was still the same Erza. This meant that if Lucy had to choose between them, she'd probably choose the white haired one. It was ridiculous, given Lucy didn't even know the white haired woman was Erza. But her fears and insecurities were starting to show. She had been without Lucy, without love for so so long. She'd gotten everything back and lost it all in a single heartbeat. She didn't want to go through loss anymore. She was tired of it.

She let out a quiet sigh as she lay down on the bed. She'd appease Lucy. Maybe she'd get back to her former self. The strong, passionate, emotion driven Erza Knightwalker. When the white haired Erza had attacked, she was able to act with confidence and intimidation. It was her choice to speak with Lucy privately however. So why couldn't she act the same way she did on the battlefield? It frustrated her. She was supposed to be strong. She was supposed to be the one Lucy relied on. Yet at that moment, it seemed like the complete opposite. As Lucy slowly removed the towel from Erza, exposing her chest, the older woman took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. Preparing for Lucy to run away in disgust.

What Erza was expecting wasn't what she received. A few seconds of silence passed by feeling like hours, until Lucy finally spoke with venom on each word. "Who did this?" If you simply looked at Lucy, you would see she was out for blood. "Who the hell did this to you?!" Erza's entire body was covered in cuts and bruises that you would have thought would have healed long ago.

"It's been a while-"

"A while?!" Lucy cut in. "These look like they're a few months old!" She slowly brought her finger to trace a closed gash starting from the woman's right breast all the way down to her stomach. Erza shuddered under her touch, not having been this intimate with anyone in a long time.

"How-" Before Lucy could ask another question, her cheek was cupped and her lips met with sloppy, rough ones. Had Erza always kissed like that? It reminded her a bit of their first kiss. When their lips separated, their noses touching each other, Lucy couldn't help but want to ask.

"Erza, when was the last time you had sex?"

The older woman's eyes widened a bit as she tried to understand what she'd just been asked. "Aren't there more important questions you want to ask? Like who the person who attacked you was, for example? Or what happened when you were away?" Lucy's priorities made no sense at all.

"They can wait. You can't. When was the last time you slept with anyone?"

"Are you asking if I cheated on you?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "You do realize only cheaters would take what I said and think that's what I meant, right?"

"I'm sorry. It just seemed completely random..."

The blonde fixed herself so each of her legs were on Erza's sides. Wrapping them around the woman's waist, she snuggled closely with the now seated redhead on the bed. "You're naked. Very very naked. And you just kissed me. So I don't think it's all that random actually."

"I...it's been seven years since I last had sex."

Lucy nodded, a bit of pride swelling in her. Her lover hadn't slept with anyone but her. She'd stayed loyal to her. It was an incredible feeling. Seven years! "And silly question but...How old are you right now?" Lucy just wanted confirmation that Erza was in fact the age she'd thought her lover was. You couldn't blame her could you?

Erza raised her eyebrow as her hands found Lucy's waist, wrapping themselves around her. "I'm obviously thr- twenty-six," she stumbled. If Lucy noticed, she hid it well.

Placing both her hands on either cheek, Lucy finally brought their lips together once more. "I missed you Erza," she whispered, letting her breath touch her lover's lips. And that's when it hit the scarlet haired knight. She was home. She was in her lover's arms, and all was well. Who cared about Kyouka? Who cared about the white haired Erza? She knew what was going on. She knew everything. And she didn't give a rats ass. As long as the other Erza was still alive, she had nothing to worry about. Kyouka would patch her up, and even with the punishment, she'd still be fine.

It had been so long. So incredibly long since the last time she'd held Lucy. She had no intention of letting go, no matter what. This was her second chance, and she wasn't about to screw up. She'd make things right.

The redhead connected their lips once more. She left small pecks on Lucy's lips until the blonde slightly opened her mouth. Erza used this opportunity to stealthy slip her tongue in. Lucy closed her eyes, clutching onto her lover, begging the moment not to end. Erza tightened her hold on her lover as physically possible. The sudden urgency in the kiss was unbearable. She wanted her blonde lover. She wanted every fiber of her being. Their tongues danced together, each fighting for control as Erza pushed her lover back on the bed.

She was getting it back. Her old aggressive, passionate self was slowly coming back, and she knew Lucy was the reason. She hadn't rejected her even after seeing all her scars. The ugliness she'd become. Lucy loved her for who she was and Erza was eternally grateful for it. As she began to lift her lover's shirt however, a familiar voice rang in her head.

_'You will always belong to me.'_

She hesitated a mere instance as the door to the apartment swung open. All that could be heard as Scarlet and Knightwalker looked at each other in shock was Lucy's embarrassed scream, followed by a pillow landing on the intruder's face.

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><p><strong>AN:** Alright. That's the end of that chapter. A lot of questions, I know. They'll be answered over the course of the fic. Hope you stay tuned for more! R&R is as usual, greatly appreciated!


	4. Erza Knightwalker

**A/N:** Hey guys, sorry for the late update. Was stuck having to go through a bunch of midterms and assignment. Blargh! Here is the next chapter. It's a bit shorter than the others because I ended up cutting the chapter in half. I think it ends at a decent spot and will continue from where it left off next chapter. When that update will be? I'm not certain. I'm following a schedule of updating my current multi-chapter fics alternatively, so I have to write 2 chapters (1 for each of the other fics) before I get back to this one. But it won't take longer than 2 weeks. Who knows, if my writing mood really kicks in, I might have the it out before next week!

In any event! Enjoy!

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><p>"Let me go!" She yelled, trying to get free from Ezel's grasp.<p>

"No can do, missy," the Etherious demon let out as he dragged the injured woman to the dungeons. "You failed again, and Kyouka's not here to lovingly punish you. Just following Sayla's orders. Though you might as well be dead soon given that nasty gash you have in your side."

"So you're a dog, following that psychopath's orders?!"

"If you're trying to piss me off, it's not working," he growled, clasping her hands to the ceiling, her legs tied apart from each other, toes barely touching the ground. "Now, be quiet." He ripped her hood off revealing her face, her red eyes glaring at him.

"I always find it interesting how humans age," the familiar unnerving voice let out as she entered the cell.

"Sayla," Ezel acknowledged as he walked out.

"You know, soon you'll be so filled with wrinkles that Kyouka-sama probably won't even look at you anymore," she sneered.

"Heh, so let me get this straight. You're jealous because you think she looks at me more than you?" The white haired prisoner let out a small laugh, only to be whipped painfully as a reward.

"Gah! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Punishing you. You failed twice in a row, and she's not here to do whatever it is she does. So, I'll be taking care of you for the next little bit," another whipping landed sharply on her chest causing her to scream. "Oh my. I just noticed that pretty nasty bleeding you have to deal with. I wonder if you'll die before Kyouka-sama gets here...Want to test it out?"

"You are psychotic," she let out between rough breaths.

"You are taking the only person I care about away from me. Psychotic doesn't begin to explain how I feel. Who the hell do you think you are anyways? Just a human. A simple human who should've died when Zeref cursed her. But instead? You survived. And Kyouka-sama felt the need to have you join Tartarus. Kid, you aren't a demon. You're a stupid human who was stupidly lucky to survive. What the hell does she see in you?! She hasn't paid any attention to me in such a long time! She hasn't taken care of me in years! Why?! Why is it always you?! What the hell does a human have that I don't?!" With every sentence, her whipping intensified. It tore through the prisoner's clothes and skin, exposing her toned but bleeding body.

"Ah, so you're upset because she's not sleeping with you?" The prisoner wrongfully snickered through the pain. She couldn't help it. The only thing this demon cared about clearly was getting laid by Kyouka. "Aren't you lucky? At least you know who you are. You know your past. You know your name! What do I know? I don't know anything! All I know is how to be a slave to demons. So get off your fucking high horse and pay attention to what you actually do have," she spat with anger trailing at the end.

"You don't get it do you? You don't understand anything about Kyouka-sama. I'd rather be a memory-less slave to her than what I have now. You don't deserve what you have with her," she slapped her hard, causing the prisoner's face to flinch to the left.

"Don't you dare assume, even for a second that I want what I have. I'd rather be dead than live a life as a slave," she responded with equal strength, tasting blood in her mouth.

"Well aren't you lucky then? You're about to die," just as Sayla prepared to give her one last whip however, her wrist was stopped by a sharp claw presented in its path. Turning around she dropped the whip.

"K-Kyouka-sama!"

"That's enough, Sayla. I've never seen you lose your cool like this," Kyouka walked towards the white haired human, unshackling her hands and feet, causing the woman to fall into her arms.

"My apologies..." the demon known as the Clear Moon Sky looked away in shame. Something had overwhelmed her and she'd wanted the girl dead, but she knew that this wasn't the way she normally acted.

"Does it hurt?" Kyouka whispered, one hand placed on the back of the injured woman's head, the other on the small of her back, preventing her from falling. The only response she got was a grunt, as the woman had begun having difficulties breathing. A few instances later, Kyouka asked, "Better now?"

The woman in her arms lifted her head and let out a quiet approval. Her sensitivity had been lowered, and she couldn't feel any pain for the moment. "Good," she let out as she let the injured woman stand by herself for an instant. Kyouka removed one of her own sleeves, ripped it just enough to be able to wrap it around the injury. "I'll take care of it more once we're in my chambers," she whispered carrying the injured woman bridal style, much to Sayla's dismay.

"Sayla, I'll take care of you once I make sure she's alright," Kyouka announced as she walked away without turning around.

The younger demon's eyes shined with excitement as she ran at the speed of light, like a child, to her room.

Placing the injured woman down quietly on the bed, she telepathically called Lamy. A minute or so later, the rabbit eared demon slammed the door open with a relatively big syringe in her hand.

"You have got to be joking..." the patient let out as her eyes widened. That was one huge needle!

"Don't worry. With your sensitivity lowered this much, you won't feel it," Kyouka tried comforting her as Lamy removed the cloth tied to her waist and inserted the needle next to the gash on her body. As the blue-like liquid went into her body, the gash began to close up. With something as big as that, it was natural to expect some type of pain. The patient squinted however was not particularly uncomfortable. She mentally thanked the demon's curse for that. Once Lamy was finished applying the strange medication, she sighed. "You know, you're human. I can't use this method too much. You want to become a demon? Let me know. Until then, stop being so stupid." She left, leaving her alone with Kyouka, mumbling on the way out how a waste of resources taking care of the human was.

Moving her hand to the woman's chest, the demon returned her sensitivity back to normal. "Feeling better?" She received a nod. "Alright. Rest up. We'll talk once I come back. I need to go see Say-" Her hand was grabbed as she was about to get off the bed.

"Kyouka..."

This awarded her a raised eyebrow.

"...sama." Kyouka smiled, pleased. No matter how close she may or may have not been to someone, she expected the utmost amount of respect. Whether they be human or demon, it mattered not. Then again, she was never all that interested in humans to begin with. And yet, this girl had piqued her interested. Something she wasn't sure she quite understood herself.

"Yes?"

"What's my name?"

Kyouka's eyes furrowed.

"Why can't I remember who I am? Why don't I have any memories?"

The demon tried to keep her distress hidden. Something had happened. There was no other reason the girl would even be aware of missing memories. Had Sayla done something? No. Even if she had, it didn't matter at the moment. She needed to find a way to control a potentially dangerous situation.

"There is a reason I took everything from you, child. They aren't memories you wish to have."

"Isn't that something for me to be the judge of?"

"Tell me. What do you remember of when I punish you?"

"Nothing...I can only remember feelings of pain...and pleasure."

"That's correct. I return your memories to you during punishment."

"Why?"

"Because they are the perfect punishment. They are not something you wish to remember. I don't want you living with such painful memories if there is an alternative. Taking them away from you is the alternative. Do you understand? I simply want to protect you," she cupped the white haired girl's cheek.

"Will you at least tell me my name?"

"We'll give you a new name in a little bit, alright? Let me go take care of Sayla, in the mean time, you rest up. When I get back, we'll think of a name together."

She was awarded a small nod. As reward for her compliance, she placed a small kiss on the patient's forehead. "I'll be back."

Just as Kyouka's presence disappeared from the room, another one took its place. "I'm never going to be left alone am I?" She looked up at the intruder.

"Erza Knightwalker." Sayla simply said.

"What?"

"Erza Knightwalker. That is your name. And these?" She pointed to the small blue beads in a vial. "One of these is enough to give you your memory back."

Quickly crawling out of the bed, she ran towards Sayla. "Give it to me!"

"On one condition."

"Anything, as long as I can remember who I am. Who Erza Knightwalker is."

Sayla leaned into the girl and quietly whispered, "Never come back here again."

The woman who was supposedly known as Erza Knightwalker nodded in approval as Sayla placed a single bead in her palm.

"Have fun living in hell," the demon cackled as she vanished. She'd finally have Kyouka all to herself again.

Shaking off the ominous last few words she'd just received, she looked at the strange blue bead in her palm. This was no time to hesitate. She wanted, needed, her memories. She couldn't understand why she hadn't even thought of them in so long. It was that woman. The red haired woman with the same spear. She'd forced her to question everything. She wondered, would she know who that woman was once her memories returned? What were the odds that her memories would in fact return with this pill? Would she survive? Well, she didn't really have much to lose did she?

Letting out a sigh, she braced herself as she swallowed the bead. That's what she was supposed to be doing right? At least she hoped she was correct. She didn't have much time to think of her potentially fatal mistake, as soon enough, she knew what she'd done was right. Memories swirled into her from her childhood all the way to adulthood. Roughly twenty-six years of memories flooded into her, filling every missing detail in her mind.

However, she didn't pay attention to any of the things that happened in the past. Her eyes wide, hand covering her mouth in shock, all she could think of were her most recent actions.

"I almost killed her."

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><p>"Erza, Erza please wait. Calm down and talk! What's going on?!" Lucy pleaded with Scarlet who was fuming. The question though was why? She had barged into the blonde's apartment and witnessed a rather intimate scene between her and her partner who may or may not have been her Edolas counterpart. But Erza had seen them being intimate with each other before, so what was the issue now?<p>

Scarlet pointed to Knightwalker who was sitting on the edge of the bed, putting her clothes on. "You ate it, didn't you?!"

"Haaaa?" The knight raised an eyebrow while putting her stockings on, uncertain as to what the mage was saying.

"My strawberry shortcake! You ate it! I demand that you pay me back!"

Something in both Erza's demeanor changed, however it went unnoticed to Lucy. "Alright. I'll buy you a new one."

Scarlet nodded as she left the room, followed by Knightwalker who grabbed her spear, kissed Lucy and made her way out of the apartment.

The blonde sat there in confusion. What the hell had just happened? Why wasn't Scarlet shocked at seeing Knightwalker looking so different? When had Knightwalker even had the chance to eat Scarlet's cake? Why did Scarlet act as though everything was normal? As though she'd just talked to Knightwalker a few hours ago? Something wasn't right here, but Lucy didn't know if following them was a good idea or not. Maybe they put on that little show in a way to tell her that they had private things to discuss. It wasn't an impossibility, but Scarlet was horrible at plays, so Lucy had no idea what to make of any of it. She decided she'd question both of them equally once they returned from whatever it was they were doing. She hadn't even had Erza to herself for a few good hours and the red head was already being taken from her. Until they returned though, she was thankful that Erza left her red scarf behind. Holding it to her chest, she returned to bed and decided to rest a bit. Things were a bit different, but she was back with Erza. And to her? That was all that mattered.

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><p>"Well? Now is a good time as any to tell me what the hell that awful acting was about," the scarred knight stretched as they stopped walking. All Scarlet had done once she left the apartment was walk. They had finally ended up in front of Knightwalker's little hut. Much to Scarlet's surprise, it was still relatively intact. With a bit of cleaning, it would have returned to what it once used to be.<p>

Instead of any type of response, Knightwalker was awarded with a glare. A very murderous glare.

"Looking at me like that doesn't really tell me what you want," she replied unsure of what exactly Scarlet had wanted with her. The moment her counterpart had let out the complaint about strawberry cake, she knew something was up. For some reason, Scarlet hadn't been surprised at seeing her, even though her body had gone through a lot of changes during the years. It was as though she had already seen her, or was already aware of it all.

In a mere instance, she was snapped back to reality as two swords were summoned and she was pinned to the tree behind her. Scarlet towered over her, one of her swords threatening the knight's throat.

"Who the hell are you?" She seethed venomously, a clear intent to kill present. No one got away with impersonating a member of Fairy Tail. As such, anyone pretending to be her counterpart would pay dearly.

The woman pinned to the tree let out a small smile as rain slowly began to shower them.

"Erza Knightwalker."

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><p><strong>AN:** That's the end of that. R&R is greatly appreciated, and for the umpteenth time, thanks for returning to the series! Even though I'm positive you guys are going to hate me for the amount of confusion I'm probably causing. No worries though. Your questions will all be answered, but in due time!


	5. A Much Needed Confirmation

**A/N: **So...I'm not sure. I just really felt like writing this chapter and put my other fics on hold for a few days. I feel bad for everyone else :( Oh well. I'll have those done soon too. This chapter's a bit longer than the last one which made me happy.

Random note: If you read the manga and are up to date on it (which you sorta should be or else you'll have no idea who half the people in this fic are!), I'm upset with Kyouka's development! *cries* If you PM me about it, I'll cry to you and talk about how cliche'd it was!

That incredibly random and strange note aside, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

P.S: As usual, these line breaks are 90% broken. Ugh. Put XOXOXO on top of them and they show up. Damn it all!

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><p>As Knightwalker stealthy raised her spear to pierce the woman pinning her to the tree, rustling was heard in her hut, causing Scarlet to drop her, shifting her attention to the noise.<p>

"I don't believe for a second that anything you're saying is true," she let out as the older Erza simply shrugged.

"I don't really care much. What I want to know is who or what is in my house," balancing her spear on her shoulders she went to open the door. No one should've been in it as far as she was concerned. She assumed that an animal simply barged in and was rummaging through it. Not like it mattered, since nothing of import was there. "Plus, what makes you so sure I'm not who I just said I am? I don't really see why anyone would want to pretend to be me of all people. Impersonating Erza Scarlet? That has merit. People don't exactly know who I am. And if they did, well. We both know what they'd do," she turned to Scarlet, and with a very uncharacteristic girly voice began, "Erza Knightwalker is nothing compared to Erza Scarlet! Scarlet is so cool, so strong, so beautiful! Even if Knightwalker looks like her, they aren't the same at all! Scarlet is waaaaay better!"

"Hadn't you moved on from your insecurities of being compared to me?"

Forgetting about the hut, Knightwalker turned her whole body around, eyes filled with blind rage. "It's always about you isn't it? I've been back for all of what? Three hours? And it's already all about you."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I get it. You're jealous aren't you?"

Raising an eyebrow, Scarlet's swords vanished and she crossed her arms, "Jealous? What would I be jealous about?"

"Maybe the fact that Lucy ended up choosing me over you? You lost. I won. For once, I won, and you hate it. It's been eating at you all this time, hasn't it? That you failed."

"Knightwalker, I-"

"Never call her that," a strangely familiar yet unfamiliar voice from inside the hut let out, as the door slowly opened. A figure clad in a dark hood walked out. "I was never in competition with Scarlet. Sure, at first, when I began developing feelings for Lucy, I felt as though I was being compared to her. I constantly thought that Lucy's feelings for me were because I looked like Scarlet. That I had her same voice. But if you were really Erza Knightwalker, then you'd know what you just said isn't true."

"Wh-...Why the hell are you talking as though-"

"As though I have my memories back? As though I know who I am?" the hooded figure revealed herself. "Maybe it's because I do have my memories back, and I know who I am." She pointed her spear at the impersonator. "But you. Whoever you are, you are nowhere in my memories. And I never gave anyone the right to pretend to be me."

"What is going on here? Are you Knightwalker?"

"Scarlet..." the whiter haired Erza turned to look at her, letting out a small smile. "It's been a while."

"What on earth happened to you?"

"Wait. Hold on," the scarred Knightwalker butted in, looking at Scarlet in shock. "You would actually believe that she's Erza Knightwalker? When nothing about her indicates such? What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm Knightwalker?"

"Nothing," the white haired, red eyed warrior let out in Scarlet's place. "You're not Erza Knightwalker."

Gritting her teeth, the so-called impersonator prepared her spear. "Who the hell do you think you are? How did you even get your memories back? There is no way Lucy was even near Tartarus, and there is no way you got to talk to her. So , tell me. How did you get them back?"

"What's it to you? How do you know so much about me anyways?" The white-haired mage took a similar stance.

"You're not Erza Knightwalker."

"Haaaa? You're still going on about it? Even Scarlet believes I'm the real Knightwalker."

"You have white hair and red eyes. You have skin as white as snow. You don't look like Erza Knightwalker. You don't even have her voice. All you have is her spear. A spear which belonged to my father. All you are," she moved so fast, neither of the other Erza could catch her movement, "is a slave to a demon." She pinned her down, spear going into her left shoulder, causing the white haired Erza to let out a scream of agony.

"Run back to Kyouka. Lucy would never believe you're me. You have nothing that makes you Erza Knightwalker. You're a failure. You let yourself go in the grief of losing Lucy, so much so that you let a demon make you her puppet. You don't deserve your memories, and you don't deserve Lucy."

"W-who do you think you are?" She gritted from the ground.

"I'm getting tired of repeating myself. I'm Erza Knightwalker. I wonder...I wonder if I can kill you now. Has enough time passed?"

_'I didn't expect her to get her memories back without Lucy. How the hell did this happen? There is no reason for Kyouka to have returned them to her...Was it Silver? No. Sayla then? Tch. That rotten jealous little bitch. Can I afford killing her? I can't tell if it's the right time yet. This is going to become a problem. I need to have Scarlet keep her mouth shut too.'_

Grabbing onto the spear lodged in her shoulder, the white haired Erza forced it out of her, landing a kick in the attacker's stomach. Jumping back enough, the red haired Knightwalker recomposed herself quickly. She couldn't take the risk. She couldn't afford to disappear. She needed to break her.

"No matter how tempted, I for one would never choose a demon over my lover. Tell me, how many times have you let Kyouka have her way with you? How many times have you enjoyed it? Or even begged her? You gave into the pain and pleasure she offered you. Did you even try fighting back? You claim to be Erza Knightwalker, but I would have never let her break me like she did you. You are not fit for the name, and we both know why."

Swallowing, the pale skinned Erza grit her teeth. She had let Kyouka have her way. And it shamed her to admit that she had enjoyed it. But it wasn't her choice! Her body had reacted, and Kyouka knew exactly what to do. She knew how to take control of her, with or without her memories. But that didn't matter. She was Erza Knightwalker. And whoever this pretender was, they were going to pay. Whatever magic they were using was topnotch that was for certain. The spear was identical to the Ten Commandments, the hair, the eye color, the skin color. They were all what they should've been. And the voice. That was her voice. A bit on the older side but she knew it to be hers. The woman in front of her reminded her more of her mother than herself, but she knew that it wasn't Zera. Whoever they were, they had managed to fool Lucy, but not Scarlet. For some reason, Scarlet knew that this Erza was a fake, of some kind at least.

As she prepared a counter however, the red haired Knightwalker simply walked up to her and bent to whisper something in her ear. Eyes wide in shock, she fell to her knees, quivering.

She hadn't been lying. It was...The woman standing in front of her was Erza Knightwalker.

"Then...Who am I?" The woman on her knees let out quietly.

"I told you, didn't I? A slave to a demon. Now get out of my sight."

She couldn't fight her. She couldn't stand up against her. She had no right to. After all. She wasn't Erza Knightwalker. If the woman in front of her was Erza Knightwalker, then she couldn't be the same person. It just wasn't possible. She knew. She knew she was Knightwalker! White haired Erza was positive. She was from Edolas and she later came to Earthland with Lucy. She knew. She had all the memories. And yet, for some reason, it felt surreal. Was it really not her? If the woman standing in front of her was really Erza Knightwalker, then who the hell was she? A clone?

What did it matter anyways? Though she knew she felt strongly for a certain blonde celestial mage, the woman standing in front of her was that person's lover. She had no right to Lucy.

She got up on her feet, taking her spear in her hand and turned around, slowly walking away, as the rain continued to hit her.

"Wait! Knightwalker! Where are you going?!" Scarlet yelled out, trying to chase after her only to be stopped by the red head next to her, who held onto her shoulder.

_'Come pick up your garbage.'_

"We need to have a talk about what just happened. And I'll answer any question you seem to have. But I am only going to say this once more. I am Erza Knightwalker. If you don't believe anything else I say, at least believe this."

Looking into her eyes, Scarlet knew. This woman had been acting peculiar and strange earlier, but what she said now was the truth. Though she still had her suspicions, the woman in front of her was Erza Knightwalker, and she was about to explain what that whole mess she'd just witnessed was. On closer inspection however, Scarlet noticed something. As the rain wetted their hair and showered their bodies, the roots of the woman's hair had slowly begun to whiten.

**XOXOXO**

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><p>"Kyouka-sama..." Sayla whispered in her sleep as she clutched onto the naked woman who had her back to the bedpost.<p>

"You're a good girl, aren't you?" Her leader laughed out as she caressed the girl's head. "I'm sorry I've been neglecting you lately. I forgot how adorable you were with your constant begging."

_'Come pick up your garbage.'_

She heard a voice. The demons of Tartarus had always communicated telepathically, but she could not understand why this voice had the power to talk to her. Especially when she hadn't heard it in so long.

_'How can you talk to me?'_

_'I'm not your little slave.'_

_'Then why do you have her voice?'_

_'Do I really? Last I checked, your pet has a pretty demonic voice lately.'_

_'Who are you, exactly?'_

_'What's it to you? For the record, after what I told her, she'll probably beg you to take her back. But then again, you didn't know she was missing did you?'_

"Erza," Kyouka's eyes widened slightly. Erza had run away? But why? It didn't matter. She needed to get her back. Then would she deal with the intruder.

Untangling Sayla's hands from her body, she got off the bed. She didn't feel like wearing the entirety of her typical clothes and helmet, as such she simply grabbed one of her many battle suits that lay in Sayla's closet. It was a dark, skin tight cloth on her upper body, partially covering her chest. Black detached sleeves went on both arms, followed by a black thong and long stockings to complement. As typical of these clothes, she was more or less very exposed. But she never minded. She clipped her belt around her waist and left the room. She wondered for an instant if she should revert her hands and legs to human ones, but quickly decided against it. She liked her limbs. No real reason to change them to human ones unless it had to do with punishing Erza. Through Plutogrim, she noticed it was raining all around Magnolia. She sighed, hoping Erza hadn't caught a cold in the rain. It was a strange thing to worry about she concluded as she simply put the thought aside. It was a bit unnerving how human she felt at times.

**XOXOXO**

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><p>It wasn't hard finding the confused and terrified girl who simply stood and watched as Kyouka walked towards her through the trees.<p>

The demon was going to kill her. She wasn't going to survive this was she? She failed her twice over, she disobeyed her, got her memories back and ran away. Kyouka was going to kill her. She fell to her knees, tears threatening to stain her beautifully pale cheeks, as the demon arrived at her footsteps.

She hadn't seen Kyouka all that often without her helmet, regardless of the fact that they had spent six years together. She was a gorgeous woman, even with the weird claws for hands and bird-like feet.

"You're going to catch a cold," the demon let out with a gentle smile as she looked down at the soaked woman. "Come on," she extended her hand, but it wasn't taken.

"You're not going to kill me?" She let out quietly, her voice quivering.

"If I wanted to kill you, do you think you'd still be alive right now?" She accepted the hand a few seconds later. With Kyouka's inhumane strength she was quickly thrown up and landed in the woman's arms.

As Kyouka turned around to make her way to her destination, the girl in her arms let out, "If I'm not Erza Knightwalker, then who am I?" Causing Kyouka to stop and look at her in shock.

"Who told you that name?" The demon questioned with a forceful voice. One her so called slave had never been able to disobey.

"S-Sayla did. She gave me my memories back. Or at least I thought they were my memories. But I'm not Erza Knightwalker, am I? Then who am I?! Am I a clone who happens to have her memories? Am I just some weird experiment you made up to be a memory bank? What the hell am I?!" She began thrashing in Kyouka's arms frantically.

"If you don't calm yourself, I'm going to drop you off a cliff."

"That may be better than what I have now!"

"Okay, let's start from the top shall we?"

Kyouka turned around once more, deciding to take a detour. Sayla's jealousy had given her a huge blunder to clean up and she was not going to enjoy it. She made a note to thoroughly punish the girl once they were back at Tartarus.

"You're Erza Knightwalker."

"That's impossible."

"Girl, if you interrupt me one more time, you will really see what a pissed off demon can do." Her threat was enough to have Erza turn her face away.

"You're Erza Knightwalker. And there is only one Erza Knightwalker," she glared at the mage who held her tongue, knowing a single word when not given permission to talk would probably be the end of her. "You were attacked by Lord Zeref. You were left to die, but I saved you and brought you to Tartarus. All of this happened six years ago. Now, during those six years, after having noticed your lack of cooperation, I took your memories from you. It proved to be successful. I would occasionally return them when you screwed up a mission, and give you an appropriate punishment. Now. This woman who convinced you that you're not Erza Knightwalker? Well, I have some suspicions as to who she might be. But that aside for now, she's lying. Even if you had plastic surgery today, and didn't look at all like what you should, you would still be Erza Knightwalker."

It was strange. Kyouka's words were very...comforting. But Erza didn't understand it. Why was the demon trying to comfort her even after she tried to run away? She knew that Kyouka never did anything without clear reason. So what was going on?

"Look," she stopped walking. As the rain continued to shower them, still in the demon's arms, Erza looked to Kyouka for an instant, noting the very cruel smile on her face, before turning her head around. They were on a cliff overlooking Magnolia. Though at first, she wasn't certain what she should be looking at, it soon became very apparent.

**XOXOXOXO**

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><p>"I love you, Erza," the blonde holding onto her whispered, trailing kisses on the sleeping woman's body. "I wonder how this works...You're even more attractive with all these scars." Gently kissing her lips, she rested her head in the crook of Erza's neck for a brief moment, taking in the woman's scent. It really was Erza. And they had really just had the best love making session she'd ever been through. She didn't have a chance to ask her what had happened with Scarlet, or why she was drenched, as the moment her lover walked in, she had already been pinned to the bed, clothes being ripped apart. Lucy was used to Erza being gentle, but she certainly wasn't in this case. The blonde didn't mind it though, as it had been a different kind of exciting.<p>

Leaving the woman's neck alone, she untangled herself from her and got up off the bed. She was going to go take a quick shower before Erza woke up. However, as she made her way to the bathroom, she noticed a strange black book laying on the bedside table.

"What is this?" She whispered to herself as she slowly went to grab it. Did it belong to Erza? Right as her fingers were about to touch the out of place book, it was snatched away from her. "Erza?" The younger woman looked at her surprised, not having expected her to wake up.

"It's a memoir," she let out quietly, her fingers tracing the cover of the simple black book. "A memoir of who I used to be."

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><p><strong>AN: **Alright, that's the end of this chapter. Hopefully you guys aren't too confused. I'm hoping I put enough clues in place to identify both Knightwalkers. I know some of you already guessed, and others might have some idea after this chapter, but you'll get full confirmation on whether your suspicion was right or not soon!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. R&R is appreciated! See you next chapter!


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